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I dunno for me. I try to eat healthy and keep my weight down, but I'm happiest when I'm eating poorly. I get kind of run down and depressed when it's meal aft

I dunno for me. I try to eat healthy and keep my weight down, but I'm happiest when I'm eating poorly. I get kind of run down and depressed when it's meal after meal of veggies and chicken, or just small portions of whatever. A pizza and a soda, or a huge steak and garlic mashed potatoes will lift my mood quickly. Then it's very hard to go back to healthy again. There's no question eating healthy helps my physical wellbeing though, so I do it.

jackvalentine 7y ago
You need to learn to cook more things if eating healthy for you is the same meal endlessly.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
  As someone who lost and kept off half their body weight: I very much support the "eat the same thing all the time" meal plan. A lot of people who get to be as big as I was are food addicts, so the less time you spend thinking about food, the better. The less time you spend in a grocery store looking at food, the better. The less food you have hanging out in your fridge, the better.
  - jackvalentine 7y ago
    OP literally said he gets rundown and depressed by his healthy eating strategy. He needs to learn to cook more things.
toyg 7y ago
Yeah, I’m kinda in the same boat. It really depends on volume: too much bad stuff will deplete my activity levels and bring me down, but a relatively small amount boosts my happiness quite significantly. This is orthogonal to the fact that sugar makes me sleepy overall.
brians 7y ago
That sounds rough! Those are the circumstances under which I learned to cook: garlic, vinegar, searing heat, beans, and eggs can combine to make the chicken and vegetables unrecognizable. And still healthy.
elktea 7y ago
contrary to popular belief, a huge steak is good for you! vegetables actually don't have that many nutrients and the ones they do are hard for us to use (ie beta-carotene vs retinol, ALA vs DHA etc etc) This article has a good summary: https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/diagnosis-diet/201903/the-brain-needs-animal-fat https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/diagnosis-diet/20190...
- vfc1 7y ago
  Vegetables have a ton more nutrients than meat, and in a better form for the human body. For example, iron in beans is much more easy to regulate by the body (to absorb only the necessary ideal amount, not less, not more) than iron on red meat. Excess heme iron on red meat is harder for the body to regulate absorptions and is linked to cancer. In general, there are no nutrients in meat that don't exist in an equivalent or better form in plants, that's where they come from after all. Including ALA, DHA (flax seeds for example), and many of the nutrients are made by the body itself. We are animals too, our body has all the same essential mechanisms to process plant foods as animals do. Of course, we can't eat grass like a cow, but fruits, vegetables, root vegetables, nuts and seeds all that we can digest easily.
  - noir_lord 7y ago
    > In general, there are no nutrients in meat that don't exist in an equivalent or better form in plants, that's where they come from after all. There are certain amino acids the body can't make itself, meat and fish contain those in high levels getting them from plants is of course possible but a pure plant only diet without dairy and fish you have to be careful that you are eating the right mix to get all the amino acids.
    - vfc1 7y ago
      > There are certain amino acids the body can't make itself This is a common myth, plants contain all the essential amino acids. A cows gut does not magically create essential amino acids, it takes them from plants, and so can we. There is no magical ingredient in animal products, they are completely optional for a healthy diet.
blanche_ 7y ago
Have you tried adding more carbohydrates to your diet?
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
awinder 7y ago
Big, big fat disclaimer — not a doctor, not a nutritionist, but I am actively enrolled in the school of hard knocks. Soda specifically is going to give you a nice big dose of sugars which your brain is just going to love. But what you’re also doing is kinda training your brain — well when I had that massive pure sugar dose I felt great, now I’m eating chicken and veggies, and wtf where’s the feel-good rush? There’s nothing really wrong with that either if you’re at peace and doing as you’re doing, eating a holistically healthy diet. But I do wonder in audience with clinical depression — if those people might be gravitating towards foods that offer quick pick-me-ups that make them feel like themselves finally, but overall make their depression worse especially when the effect is quickly wears off
- hos234 7y ago
  All this is ambiguous because people are different. Different personality types. Different needs. The spectrum is vast. And its all changing with different phases of life. Study your own family and friends, and you will find a dozen different mechanisms people use. The key is to be aware that there are multiple paths.
- mumblemumble 7y ago
  I'm no expert, either, but I'm pretty well convinced that sugar is addictive. It offers a similar quick mood bump to what I used to experience from nicotine. And, like nicotine, it turns out that I felt like crap for a good long while when I decided to stop consuming it regularly. And, like nicotine, eventually I pushed through that phase and found that my overall sense of well-being had noticeably improved. And one of the dirty tricks our brains play on us is, a quick but short-lived mood bump is more salient than a constant improvement. FWIW, for my purposes, "sugar" maybe has more to do with the blood sugar spike than chemistry. Mashed potatoes would count, insofar as, at least according to the tables I've seen, mashed potatoes have just about the highest glycemic index money can buy.
  - nradov 7y ago
    According to the current scientific consensus, sugar isn't addictive in the same way as, say, alcohol or opiods. It does activate some of the same neural pathways. https://health.usnews.com/wellness/food/articles/2018-11-16/sugar-is-addictive-bs-these-health-pros-say https://health.usnews.com/wellness/food/articles/2018-11-16/...
Insanity 7y ago
I eat unhealthy when I feel down but it usually makes me feel worse in the long run. The older I get, the more I appreciate eating healthy. But every once in a while I'll order dominos and enjoy it without guilt.
saiya-jin 7y ago
> it's meal after meal of veggies and chicken, or just small portions of whatever This doesn't sound right. No wonder you get fed up with such a diet and run back to junk, there is a mental/emotional factor to changing diet, as you describe. I can't claim I know what would be perfect fit for you, but I can try: you describe tasty junkfood as the thing that makes you happy. Ever tried to properly spice up those healthy meals? I don't mean just chili, but dozens of herbs and spices available from all around the world. Personal anecdote : When I went backpacking to India for few months, I practically stopped eating meat altogether - their chicken was full of bones, mutton was like a chewing gum, fish curries full of bones and god knows what sanitary conditions were (not) upheld. The thing is, I didn't miss meat at all, food was spiced so well and flavors were so rich that it took me quite some time after coming back to start eating meat (and I never really resumed pork and beef apart from few special occasions). Also, don't know how active you are, but finding what makes you tick and enjoying the efforts will help greatly with move to healthier eating (it did for me). If you work out enough and often (this takes time to get to, but totally achievable for anybody), you don't have to watch portions and count calories anymore. The key is consistency.
yahyaheee 7y ago
So much of this, when I work out and eat healthy I’m unhappy and have terrible anxiety.
- magic_beans 7y ago
  It sounds like you're not getting enough calories when you work out and eat healthy, which would cause the anxiety. Every vegetable you eat should have been cooked in olive oil or some other fat (the fat helps your body absorb the nutrients and provides you with satiating calories). If you eat raw veggies, they should be smothered in a fat-rich dressing (tahini, olive oil, ghee, whatever floats your boat).
dalore 7y ago
Of course a huge steak would help, that is real food, not like the pizza and soda. Steak is healthy don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
- SketchySeaBeast 7y ago
  That feels pretty dogmatic. I get soda not being "real food", but I think the only way you can disqualify all pizza is by running down an anti-carb rabbit-hole.
  - dalore 7y ago
    You can define real food as non processed food with minimal (usual one) ingredient. Pizza is usually made from processed flour.
    - Spivak 7y ago
      I mean you might as well define "more real" as "less processed" at this point because the ingredient is absurd -- steak has fewer ingredients than pizza. The problem I have when people argue against "processed" foods is that most of thing things that people argue as "processing" is just normal cooking and preserving made to sound scary. And the research is there that we absorb calories and nutrients differently depending on how and how much we cook things but that should be the discussion.
      - SketchySeaBeast 7y ago
        > And the research is there that we absorb calories and nutrients differently depending on how and how much we cook things but that should be the discussion. Steak has significantly more available nutrients and calories if you cook it well done. I don't want to live in a world where we define food only on that axis.
        Spivak 7y ago
        Well yeah, but let's compare apples to apples here. A "processed" Salisbury steak you buy in the frozen section likely isn't all that different than what you would end up with if you made it yourself but the homemade one doesn't get labeled as processed like it probably ought to. You're absolutely right that the actual nutritional content matters and there's a lot of low-nutrition food out there but the term processed just irks me because it doesn't at all capture what's actually wrong with certain types of food.
MisterTea 7y ago
I was always on the heavy side since high school. 5'10" and 200 lbs was my usual weight. Then I fell into a slight depression after moving to a more remote location to be closer to work. I wound up gaining weight and hit 230 lbs. It was after my friends wedding where I was his best man that it really hit me. I was the fattest guy in all the pictures. It really bothered me. Around a few years ago I started noticing more and more reports on how excess dietary sugar is quite bad for you. So I took a good look at my diet and realized that not only was I eating crap but also over eating in general. I then made it a mission to cut out added sugar, excess carbs, and excess fats. No keto, no atkins, no gym membership, no gimmicks. Just thought to myself "if this was 100+ years ago, what would I be eating?" I limited myself to eating just the basics in smaller portions. I limited beer and red meat to occasion and eliminated sweets, sweet beverages, sweet and savory dishes, and cheese. After a year and a half of discipline I lost damn near 65 lbs. It wasn't easy but it worked. (ymmv, I think my metabolism is quite good and I just abused it) Conclusion? I feel great. I feel lighter. I move better. Clothes fit better. And I sleep better. I feel confident. I'm now the skinny guy in the group. Family and friends are both envious and inspired to also lose weight. Those feeling alone are addictive so it helps me hold the course.
- hi5eyes 7y ago
  caloric deficit while on the paleo diet?
  - MisterTea 7y ago
    Most likely. Like I said, I followed no diets so it was keeping my diet simple in terms of what I ate. poultry, fish, vegetables, rice, pasta, beans, and a little bread. Spices are your friend. There was certainly a reduction in caloric intake after I became comfortable fighting the snacking urges and easily ignore hunger pangs. I could skip meals easily which was deficit. but I'm back to eating normally which put some weight back on. My lowest was 147 lbs and that was after I realized I was under eating. People started thinking I was sick. Now I'm a stable 165 lbs but have a bit of a gut. Though I could probably knock that off by exercising.
scns 7y ago
Try adding a source of carbs with a low glycemic index like quinoa, amaranth or legumes. It should increase serotonin levels and decrease craving for sugar.
DisruptiveDave 7y ago
I think you just proved a point here. That's not "happiness" in the sustainable sense. That's instant gratification. The former requires sacrifice and cultivation while the latter requires nothing but giving in to whatever your monkey mind desires, which of course results in the never-ending loop of chasing the next high.
H1Supreme 7y ago
Replace chicken with steak? In my experience, it's not necessarily the perceived healthiness of foods (chicken == healthy, steak == unhealthy), it's the carbohydrate amounts. When I was in my 20's, I was relatively "hard core" about lifting weights and training. I weighed every meal, brought my own meals to cookouts, estimated macros as best I could. I was pretty obsessed with it all. As a result, I tried every diet out there, multiple times. What I keep coming back to is low carb. By that I mean: Tons of broccoli, lettuce, cauliflower, zucchini, nuts (almonds and pecans primarily), fish, and beef. Plus, hard cheeses like Parmesan and Romano. It's not hard to make these meals delicous. And, interestingly enough, I get "run down and depressed" when I don't eat this way. It's weird to admit that I crave vegetables like I would a piece of pizza. But, if we go out of town for a few days, and eat out a lot, I completely do.
- jvagner 7y ago
  You might look at a book called "The Perfect Health Diet" which advocates, through nutrition science, for a diet much like this.
- avinium 7y ago
  Are you me? 95% of my diet is broccoli, zucchini, spinah, chicken, beef, walnuts and peanuts. I'll usually indulge in a carb/sugar binge once a week. Any more than that, I feel rubbish physically - bloated, sluggish, hungry, irritable.
peterwwillis 7y ago
First off, that is a serious struggle, I'm sorry you're going through that. I hope you find a balance that works for you. Second, I would like to ban the phrase "eat healthy" from the popular consciousness. It's nonsense. You can't eat healthy. You can be healthy, and you can eat healthy foods. What are healthy foods? Foods that have calories and won't poison you. That's a big category. When I think of "healthy" veggies and chicken, I think of a pot with raw veggies and chicken breast steamed until they're cooked, with a bit of salt and pepper. Incredibly unappetizing, very bland. I don't care how fat I am, I would never waste my time or money eating something like that. I'd rather eat a candy bar, which would be about the same calories. Your weight is defined by the number of calories you consume and burn. If you eat 1200 calories of veggies and chicken, your weight goes up. If you eat 500 calories of olive oil, garlic, onions, tomatoes, basil, oregano, sweet potato, hot sauce, and lemon-garlic-yogurt marinated chicken in a toasted pita, your weight goes up less. The latter tastes a hell of a lot better than the former, and you didn't gain weight. But it has oil and yogurt and bread, so some people don't consider it "healthy". It is definitely hard to begin eating smaller portions, but I guarantee that if you improve the flavor of your foods, choose a variety of recipes, and keep the overall calories down, you can eat delicious, satisfying meals and lose weight. I also highly recommend cold-brewed drinks over soda, which you can carbonate yourself. I make overnight cold brewed tea and coffee, veggie-flavored waters, and fresh juices.
TimSchumann 7y ago
You should give fasting a try.
mywittyname 7y ago
Most humans get a dopamine boost from eating tasty food.
magic_beans 7y ago
OP sounds like a drug addict or someone who simply isn't getting enough calories! > A pizza and a soda, or a huge steak and garlic mashed potatoes will lift my mood quickly. When I eat processed/junk food, the temporary high is very soon replaced by feelings of low energy, moodiness, acid reflux, and general sluggishness. When I eat a veggie-dominant meal (raw garlic-tahini sauce over roasted broccoli/kale with a side of buckwheat noodles and hemp seed, for example) I feel vibrant and happy and productive for hours. Tip for OP: when eating veggie meals, make sure to add vegetable fats for more calories.
authoritarian 7y ago
Likely because you are addicted to the dopamine from eating lots of sugary/fatty foods or otherwise eating poorly. It would be like saying you try to drink water and stay hydrated, but you're at your happiest when drinking beer
arandr0x 7y ago
Same, but I think it's in part because I'm baseline underweight (and have a hard time keeping the weight up), and so it only takes a couple meals of chicken and veggies before my muscles literally eat themselves. I can't eat an entire pizza in one sitting and a single big meal usually means I won't eat for the next 18 hours, so what I usually do is have small portions of fatty/caloric food. A single cheeseburger or pizza slice. Half a cookie. Ice cream, but the smallest serving. Those feel much better than a pound of chicken, and as an added bonus, I'm not feeling nauseous at the end of the meal.
thorwasdfasdf 7y ago
I know what you mean. In the short term, a donut gets me really really high, it's like I'm on cloud 9. but, in the long term, it's worth it to eat healthy.
x2f10 7y ago
Have you been restricting dietary fats during the "veggies and chicken" periods? I found that to enormously impact my moods. Once I added back fats (butter, avocado, peanut butter, nuts, etc) I was back to normal. Don't underestimate dietary fat and it's impact on your mood.
- mark_l_watson 7y ago
  I agree. I eat a healthy diet and I need to make sure I eat some fatty foods like avocado and some raw unsalted nuts with fruit - otherwise I don’t feel right. I believe in eating lean meats, in small amounts, but two or three times a month I like to split a filet mignon steak with my wife and enjoy some greasy high fat meat.

jackvalentine 7y ago

You need to learn to cook more things if eating healthy for you is the same meal endlessly.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
As someone who lost and kept off half their body weight: I very much support the "eat the same thing all the time" meal plan. A lot of people who get to be as big as I was are food addicts, so the less time you spend thinking about food, the better. The less time you spend in a grocery store looking at food, the better. The less food you have hanging out in your fridge, the better.
- jackvalentine 7y ago
  OP literally said he gets rundown and depressed by his healthy eating strategy. He needs to learn to cook more things.

toyg 7y ago

Yeah, I’m kinda in the same boat. It really depends on volume: too much bad stuff will deplete my activity levels and bring me down, but a relatively small amount boosts my happiness quite significantly. This is orthogonal to the fact that sugar makes me sleepy overall.

brians 7y ago

That sounds rough! Those are the circumstances under which I learned to cook: garlic, vinegar, searing heat, beans, and eggs can combine to make the chicken and vegetables unrecognizable. And still healthy.

elktea 7y ago

contrary to popular belief, a huge steak is good for you! vegetables actually don't have that many nutrients and the ones they do are hard for us to use (ie beta-carotene vs retinol, ALA vs DHA etc etc) This article has a good summary: https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/diagnosis-diet/201903/the-brain-needs-animal-fat https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/diagnosis-diet/20190...

vfc1 7y ago
Vegetables have a ton more nutrients than meat, and in a better form for the human body. For example, iron in beans is much more easy to regulate by the body (to absorb only the necessary ideal amount, not less, not more) than iron on red meat. Excess heme iron on red meat is harder for the body to regulate absorptions and is linked to cancer. In general, there are no nutrients in meat that don't exist in an equivalent or better form in plants, that's where they come from after all. Including ALA, DHA (flax seeds for example), and many of the nutrients are made by the body itself. We are animals too, our body has all the same essential mechanisms to process plant foods as animals do. Of course, we can't eat grass like a cow, but fruits, vegetables, root vegetables, nuts and seeds all that we can digest easily.
- noir_lord 7y ago
  > In general, there are no nutrients in meat that don't exist in an equivalent or better form in plants, that's where they come from after all. There are certain amino acids the body can't make itself, meat and fish contain those in high levels getting them from plants is of course possible but a pure plant only diet without dairy and fish you have to be careful that you are eating the right mix to get all the amino acids.
  - vfc1 7y ago
    > There are certain amino acids the body can't make itself This is a common myth, plants contain all the essential amino acids. A cows gut does not magically create essential amino acids, it takes them from plants, and so can we. There is no magical ingredient in animal products, they are completely optional for a healthy diet.

blanche_ 7y ago

Have you tried adding more carbohydrates to your diet?

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

awinder 7y ago

Big, big fat disclaimer — not a doctor, not a nutritionist, but I am actively enrolled in the school of hard knocks. Soda specifically is going to give you a nice big dose of sugars which your brain is just going to love. But what you’re also doing is kinda training your brain — well when I had that massive pure sugar dose I felt great, now I’m eating chicken and veggies, and wtf where’s the feel-good rush? There’s nothing really wrong with that either if you’re at peace and doing as you’re doing, eating a holistically healthy diet. But I do wonder in audience with clinical depression — if those people might be gravitating towards foods that offer quick pick-me-ups that make them feel like themselves finally, but overall make their depression worse especially when the effect is quickly wears off

hos234 7y ago
All this is ambiguous because people are different. Different personality types. Different needs. The spectrum is vast. And its all changing with different phases of life. Study your own family and friends, and you will find a dozen different mechanisms people use. The key is to be aware that there are multiple paths.
mumblemumble 7y ago
I'm no expert, either, but I'm pretty well convinced that sugar is addictive. It offers a similar quick mood bump to what I used to experience from nicotine. And, like nicotine, it turns out that I felt like crap for a good long while when I decided to stop consuming it regularly. And, like nicotine, eventually I pushed through that phase and found that my overall sense of well-being had noticeably improved. And one of the dirty tricks our brains play on us is, a quick but short-lived mood bump is more salient than a constant improvement. FWIW, for my purposes, "sugar" maybe has more to do with the blood sugar spike than chemistry. Mashed potatoes would count, insofar as, at least according to the tables I've seen, mashed potatoes have just about the highest glycemic index money can buy.
- nradov 7y ago
  According to the current scientific consensus, sugar isn't addictive in the same way as, say, alcohol or opiods. It does activate some of the same neural pathways. https://health.usnews.com/wellness/food/articles/2018-11-16/sugar-is-addictive-bs-these-health-pros-say https://health.usnews.com/wellness/food/articles/2018-11-16/...

Insanity 7y ago

I eat unhealthy when I feel down but it usually makes me feel worse in the long run. The older I get, the more I appreciate eating healthy. But every once in a while I'll order dominos and enjoy it without guilt.

saiya-jin 7y ago

> it's meal after meal of veggies and chicken, or just small portions of whatever This doesn't sound right. No wonder you get fed up with such a diet and run back to junk, there is a mental/emotional factor to changing diet, as you describe. I can't claim I know what would be perfect fit for you, but I can try: you describe tasty junkfood as the thing that makes you happy. Ever tried to properly spice up those healthy meals? I don't mean just chili, but dozens of herbs and spices available from all around the world. Personal anecdote : When I went backpacking to India for few months, I practically stopped eating meat altogether - their chicken was full of bones, mutton was like a chewing gum, fish curries full of bones and god knows what sanitary conditions were (not) upheld. The thing is, I didn't miss meat at all, food was spiced so well and flavors were so rich that it took me quite some time after coming back to start eating meat (and I never really resumed pork and beef apart from few special occasions). Also, don't know how active you are, but finding what makes you tick and enjoying the efforts will help greatly with move to healthier eating (it did for me). If you work out enough and often (this takes time to get to, but totally achievable for anybody), you don't have to watch portions and count calories anymore. The key is consistency.

yahyaheee 7y ago

So much of this, when I work out and eat healthy I’m unhappy and have terrible anxiety.

magic_beans 7y ago
It sounds like you're not getting enough calories when you work out and eat healthy, which would cause the anxiety. Every vegetable you eat should have been cooked in olive oil or some other fat (the fat helps your body absorb the nutrients and provides you with satiating calories). If you eat raw veggies, they should be smothered in a fat-rich dressing (tahini, olive oil, ghee, whatever floats your boat).

dalore 7y ago

Of course a huge steak would help, that is real food, not like the pizza and soda. Steak is healthy don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

SketchySeaBeast 7y ago
That feels pretty dogmatic. I get soda not being "real food", but I think the only way you can disqualify all pizza is by running down an anti-carb rabbit-hole.
- dalore 7y ago
  You can define real food as non processed food with minimal (usual one) ingredient. Pizza is usually made from processed flour.
  - Spivak 7y ago
    I mean you might as well define "more real" as "less processed" at this point because the ingredient is absurd -- steak has fewer ingredients than pizza. The problem I have when people argue against "processed" foods is that most of thing things that people argue as "processing" is just normal cooking and preserving made to sound scary. And the research is there that we absorb calories and nutrients differently depending on how and how much we cook things but that should be the discussion.
    - SketchySeaBeast 7y ago
      > And the research is there that we absorb calories and nutrients differently depending on how and how much we cook things but that should be the discussion. Steak has significantly more available nutrients and calories if you cook it well done. I don't want to live in a world where we define food only on that axis.
      - Spivak 7y ago
        Well yeah, but let's compare apples to apples here. A "processed" Salisbury steak you buy in the frozen section likely isn't all that different than what you would end up with if you made it yourself but the homemade one doesn't get labeled as processed like it probably ought to. You're absolutely right that the actual nutritional content matters and there's a lot of low-nutrition food out there but the term processed just irks me because it doesn't at all capture what's actually wrong with certain types of food.

MisterTea 7y ago

I was always on the heavy side since high school. 5'10" and 200 lbs was my usual weight. Then I fell into a slight depression after moving to a more remote location to be closer to work. I wound up gaining weight and hit 230 lbs. It was after my friends wedding where I was his best man that it really hit me. I was the fattest guy in all the pictures. It really bothered me. Around a few years ago I started noticing more and more reports on how excess dietary sugar is quite bad for you. So I took a good look at my diet and realized that not only was I eating crap but also over eating in general. I then made it a mission to cut out added sugar, excess carbs, and excess fats. No keto, no atkins, no gym membership, no gimmicks. Just thought to myself "if this was 100+ years ago, what would I be eating?" I limited myself to eating just the basics in smaller portions. I limited beer and red meat to occasion and eliminated sweets, sweet beverages, sweet and savory dishes, and cheese. After a year and a half of discipline I lost damn near 65 lbs. It wasn't easy but it worked. (ymmv, I think my metabolism is quite good and I just abused it) Conclusion? I feel great. I feel lighter. I move better. Clothes fit better. And I sleep better. I feel confident. I'm now the skinny guy in the group. Family and friends are both envious and inspired to also lose weight. Those feeling alone are addictive so it helps me hold the course.

hi5eyes 7y ago
caloric deficit while on the paleo diet?
- MisterTea 7y ago
  Most likely. Like I said, I followed no diets so it was keeping my diet simple in terms of what I ate. poultry, fish, vegetables, rice, pasta, beans, and a little bread. Spices are your friend. There was certainly a reduction in caloric intake after I became comfortable fighting the snacking urges and easily ignore hunger pangs. I could skip meals easily which was deficit. but I'm back to eating normally which put some weight back on. My lowest was 147 lbs and that was after I realized I was under eating. People started thinking I was sick. Now I'm a stable 165 lbs but have a bit of a gut. Though I could probably knock that off by exercising.

scns 7y ago

Try adding a source of carbs with a low glycemic index like quinoa, amaranth or legumes. It should increase serotonin levels and decrease craving for sugar.

DisruptiveDave 7y ago

I think you just proved a point here. That's not "happiness" in the sustainable sense. That's instant gratification. The former requires sacrifice and cultivation while the latter requires nothing but giving in to whatever your monkey mind desires, which of course results in the never-ending loop of chasing the next high.

H1Supreme 7y ago

Replace chicken with steak? In my experience, it's not necessarily the perceived healthiness of foods (chicken == healthy, steak == unhealthy), it's the carbohydrate amounts. When I was in my 20's, I was relatively "hard core" about lifting weights and training. I weighed every meal, brought my own meals to cookouts, estimated macros as best I could. I was pretty obsessed with it all. As a result, I tried every diet out there, multiple times. What I keep coming back to is low carb. By that I mean: Tons of broccoli, lettuce, cauliflower, zucchini, nuts (almonds and pecans primarily), fish, and beef. Plus, hard cheeses like Parmesan and Romano. It's not hard to make these meals delicous. And, interestingly enough, I get "run down and depressed" when I don't eat this way. It's weird to admit that I crave vegetables like I would a piece of pizza. But, if we go out of town for a few days, and eat out a lot, I completely do.

jvagner 7y ago
You might look at a book called "The Perfect Health Diet" which advocates, through nutrition science, for a diet much like this.
avinium 7y ago
Are you me? 95% of my diet is broccoli, zucchini, spinah, chicken, beef, walnuts and peanuts. I'll usually indulge in a carb/sugar binge once a week. Any more than that, I feel rubbish physically - bloated, sluggish, hungry, irritable.

peterwwillis 7y ago

First off, that is a serious struggle, I'm sorry you're going through that. I hope you find a balance that works for you. Second, I would like to ban the phrase "eat healthy" from the popular consciousness. It's nonsense. You can't eat healthy. You can be healthy, and you can eat healthy foods. What are healthy foods? Foods that have calories and won't poison you. That's a big category. When I think of "healthy" veggies and chicken, I think of a pot with raw veggies and chicken breast steamed until they're cooked, with a bit of salt and pepper. Incredibly unappetizing, very bland. I don't care how fat I am, I would never waste my time or money eating something like that. I'd rather eat a candy bar, which would be about the same calories. Your weight is defined by the number of calories you consume and burn. If you eat 1200 calories of veggies and chicken, your weight goes up. If you eat 500 calories of olive oil, garlic, onions, tomatoes, basil, oregano, sweet potato, hot sauce, and lemon-garlic-yogurt marinated chicken in a toasted pita, your weight goes up less. The latter tastes a hell of a lot better than the former, and you didn't gain weight. But it has oil and yogurt and bread, so some people don't consider it "healthy". It is definitely hard to begin eating smaller portions, but I guarantee that if you improve the flavor of your foods, choose a variety of recipes, and keep the overall calories down, you can eat delicious, satisfying meals and lose weight. I also highly recommend cold-brewed drinks over soda, which you can carbonate yourself. I make overnight cold brewed tea and coffee, veggie-flavored waters, and fresh juices.

TimSchumann 7y ago

You should give fasting a try.

mywittyname 7y ago

Most humans get a dopamine boost from eating tasty food.

magic_beans 7y ago

OP sounds like a drug addict or someone who simply isn't getting enough calories! > A pizza and a soda, or a huge steak and garlic mashed potatoes will lift my mood quickly. When I eat processed/junk food, the temporary high is very soon replaced by feelings of low energy, moodiness, acid reflux, and general sluggishness. When I eat a veggie-dominant meal (raw garlic-tahini sauce over roasted broccoli/kale with a side of buckwheat noodles and hemp seed, for example) I feel vibrant and happy and productive for hours. Tip for OP: when eating veggie meals, make sure to add vegetable fats for more calories.

authoritarian 7y ago

Likely because you are addicted to the dopamine from eating lots of sugary/fatty foods or otherwise eating poorly. It would be like saying you try to drink water and stay hydrated, but you're at your happiest when drinking beer

arandr0x 7y ago

Same, but I think it's in part because I'm baseline underweight (and have a hard time keeping the weight up), and so it only takes a couple meals of chicken and veggies before my muscles literally eat themselves. I can't eat an entire pizza in one sitting and a single big meal usually means I won't eat for the next 18 hours, so what I usually do is have small portions of fatty/caloric food. A single cheeseburger or pizza slice. Half a cookie. Ice cream, but the smallest serving. Those feel much better than a pound of chicken, and as an added bonus, I'm not feeling nauseous at the end of the meal.

thorwasdfasdf 7y ago

I know what you mean. In the short term, a donut gets me really really high, it's like I'm on cloud 9. but, in the long term, it's worth it to eat healthy.

x2f10 7y ago

Have you been restricting dietary fats during the "veggies and chicken" periods? I found that to enormously impact my moods. Once I added back fats (butter, avocado, peanut butter, nuts, etc) I was back to normal. Don't underestimate dietary fat and it's impact on your mood.

mark_l_watson 7y ago
I agree. I eat a healthy diet and I need to make sure I eat some fatty foods like avocado and some raw unsalted nuts with fruit - otherwise I don’t feel right. I believe in eating lean meats, in small amounts, but two or three times a month I like to split a filet mignon steak with my wife and enjoy some greasy high fat meat.